SAFAIMITRA SURAKSHA CHALLENGE
Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge across 243 Cities to ensure that no life of any sewer or septic tank cleaner is ever lost again owing to the issue of ‘hazardous cleaning'.
About:
- The Challenge, launched on the occasion of World Toilet Day, is aimed at preventing ‘hazardous cleaning’ of sewers and septic tanks and promote their mechanized cleaning.
- Representatives from 243 cities across the country took a pledge to mechanize all sewer and septic tank cleaning operations by 30th April 2021.
- The initiative is in line with PM Modi’s vision, who has always placed the safety and dignity of sanitation workers at the core of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U)
- The actual on-ground assessment of participating cities will be conducted in May 2021 by an independent agency and results of the same will be declared on 15 August 2021.
- Cities will be awarded in three sub-categories – with population of more than 10 lakhs, 3-10 lakhs and upto 3 lakhs, with a total prize money of ₹52 crores to be given to winning cities across all categories.
WORLD CHILDREN’S DAY
World Children's Day is being observed on 20 November.
About:
- World Children’s Day is UNICEF’s annual day of action for children, by children.
- World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare.
- November 20th is an important date as it is the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Since 1990, World Children's Day also marks the anniversary of the date that the UN General Assembly adopted both the Declaration and the Convention on children's rights.
INDIA-LUXEMBOURG SUMMIT
Prime Minister Modi and the Prime Minister of Luxembourg held the first-ever India-Luxembourg Virtual Summit on 19 November 2020.
About:
- Luxembourg is a founding member of the EU. In this context, the two leaders exchanged views on further strengthening India EU relations including forward movement on India EU trade agreements and investment agreements.
- The Luxembourg Prime Minister conveyed the intention of Luxembourg to join the International Solar Alliance. Mr Modi invited Luxembourg to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
- The leaders looked forward to the 17th Joint Economic Commission between India and the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union to review the economic and trade relations.
- Three agreements were signed coinciding with the Summit. The agreements were
- MoU between India International Exchange (India INX) and Luxembourg Stock Exchange
- MoU between State Bank of India and Luxembourg Stock Exchange
- MoU between Invest India and Luxinnovation
INDIA-BHUTAN RELATIONS
Prime Ministers of India and Bhutan will virtually launch RuPay Card phase-2 in Bhutan on 20th of this month.
About:
- The two Prime Ministers had jointly launched phase-1 of the project during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bhutan in August last year.
- The implementation of phase-1 of RuPay cards in Bhutan has enabled Indian visitors in Bhutan to access ATMs and points of sale terminals across Bhutan. The phase-2 will now allow Bhutanese cardholders to access RuPay network in India
VATAYAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ will be conferred with the Vatayan Lifetime Achievement Award at a virtual ceremony on 21st November, 2020.
About:
- Vatayan International Awards given by the Vatayan-UK organization in London, honours poets, writers and artists for their exemplary work in their respective fields.
- Earlier many eminent personalities like Prasoon Joshi, Javed Akhtar have been awarded the Vatayan Awards for their literary contribution.
MEGHALAYA INTEGRATED TRANSPORT PROJECT (MITP)
The Government of India, the Government of Meghalaya and the World Bank signed a $120 million project to improve and modernise the transport sector of state of Meghalaya.
About:
- The project will improve about 300 km of strategic road segments and stand-alone bridges by using innovative, climate resilient, and nature-based solutions. It will also support innovative solutions such as precast bridges to reduce both time and cost of construction.
- MITP will help Meghalaya develop reliable, climate resilient and safe roads which is crucial for the economic development of the state. About half of the 5,362 habitations in the state lack transport connectivity.
- This operation will also support state government's “Restart Meghalaya Mission” to revive and boost development activities affected due to COVID-19 pandemic.
- The $120 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a maturity of 14 years including a grace period of 6 years.
DELHI-GHAZIABAD-MEERUT REGIONAL RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM PROJECT
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) and the New Development Bank (NDB) signed a loan agreement for lending 500 million dollars for the ‘Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System Project’.
About:
- The Rapid Transit System will provide a fast, reliable, safe and comfortable public transport system in the National Capital Region.
- Due to lack of efficient public transport options, the number of private vehicles in NCR has increased. It can take about 3 to 4 hours to travel between Delhi and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh by road during peak hours. Rapid growth in vehicular traffic has made NCR one of the most polluted regions in the world.
LNG FUELLING STATIONS
Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel laid the foundation stone for the first 50 LNG fuelling stations, across the golden quadrilateral and major National Highways.
About:
- Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport.
- LNG is not only almost 40% cheaper than diesel but also causes very less pollution. LNG use in trucks can reduce SOx emissions by 100% and NOx emissions by 85% thus befitting society at large.
- Government will set up LNG stations at the distance of 200-300 km on golden quadrilateral, and within 3 years, we will have 1000 LNG stations on all major roads, industrial hubs and mining areas.
- These fifty LNG stations will be set up and commissioned in partnership by country’s Oil & Gas majors such as IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, GAIL, PLL, Gujarat Gas and their Joint Venture Companies and subsidiaries.
CAR AS A PRIVATE SPACE ON A PUBLIC ROAD?
The Delhi government on November 18 told the Delhi High Court that a personal vehicle on a public road cannot be said to be a private zone — rather, it is a public space.
About:
- The argument was given by the state to defend its decision of making it compulsory for people to wear masks when they are travelling in their personal or official vehicles, alone or otherwise.
- The Delhi government referred to the Supreme Court judgment in ‘Satvinder Singh @ Satvinder Singh Saluja & Ors Vs. The State of Bihar’ to defend its directive on wearing masks in vehicles.
- The Supreme Court in its ruling said Section 2(17A) of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 defines a “public place” to mean any place to which the public has access, whether as a matter of right or not — and includes all places visited by the general public, and also includes any open space.
- The court dismissed the argument that a vehicle is not covered by the definition of “public place” as given in the law amended in 2016 by Bihar.
CHHATH PUJA
President Ram Nath Kovind has sent his greetings to citizens on the eve of Chhath Puja.
About:
- Dedicated to: Chhath is a Hindu festival dedicated to the Sun god and his wife Usha in order to thank them for bestowing the bounties of life on earth. The Goddess who is worshipped during the famous Chhath Puja is known as Chhathi Maiya (also known as Usha, wife of the sun god).
- Meaning of word chhath: The word chhath means sixth and the festival is celebrated on the sixth day of the month Kartika of the Hindu lunar Bikram Sambat calendar.
- Rituals: The festival is observed over a period of four days. They rituals include holy bathing, fasting, standing in water for long periods of time, and offering prayers and food to the setting and rising sun.
- Who observe it? The main worshipers, called Parvaitin, are usually women. However, many men also observe this festival as Chhath is not a gender-specific festival.
- Regions: The festival is observed most elaborately in Mithila Province of Nepal, Terai-Madhesh region of Nepal, Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and UP. It is also more prevalent in areas where migrants from those areas have a presence.
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